Four Brothers, Five Lost Souls
by SlythPrincess
Summary: The brothers encounter an old face from their neighborhood returning to confront the ghosts of her past. Each brother has their different views on what to do about this girl with the troubled past, but does she really want or need their help? Rated M for
1. Chapter 1

Bobby Mercer stared out the window intently at the falling snow. It had been snowing a lot these past few weeks, which, he decided, were the worst few weeks of his life. At least he was with his brothers again. He could hear Angel banging his "woman" down the hall, Jack was playing away on his guitar and Jerry was off doing something quietly on his own. Jerry had been doing that a lot lately, but something outside was starting to attract Bobby's attention.

She didn't look like the rest of the girls who walked around here. First of all she was wearing a coat that covered more then her arms. Secondly, she looked rather professional, which was rare in this neighborhood, especially for young women. She looked lost as she milled around, looking at the buildings. Bobby wondered to himself how she had wound up here. Bobby stiffened as he saw two large guys come up behind the girl quickly.

Ella was trying to remember why she had come back to her old neighborhood. She had been a very different person when she had lived here. She shuddered as she looked around, remembering how her father would beat her if she didn't bring home enough money to support them. It was him who had forced her to drop out of school and work as a stripper. She had come a long way since then. And she would never go back to that life. However, she was taking a psychology class at college now, and it gave her the idea that she should confront her demons. She thought that visiting her old neighborhood would be the best way.

She didn't notice the sudden extra snow crunching behind her. That or she was just used to busy streets and didn't remember to always look behind you when you were walking in this neighborhood. She remembered quickly when she felt big hands grab onto her and try to flip her over. She stood her ground, but knew she wouldn't be able to for long. "What do you want?" she yelled as loud and violently as she could, trying to convince them she wasn't afraid, and grab some attention at the same time.

"You know what we want baby, and it ain't just what's in your purse," one of the large men grumbled into her ear.

Ella was worried about that. She suddenly wished that she still carried a gun on her. "Listen boys, that's something you gotta earn, you can't just take it," she snarled angrily.

"Baby, I don't think you're in any position to argue about that," the second man started laughing.

"Now if you just keep your mouth shut and come with us nicely, we won't slit your pretty little neck," the first one shoved a gun heavily into her back.

"Call me crazy, but I think if you need a gun to get a woman then you must have one hell of a tiny penis," a third male voice rang through the cold.

The two men spun around, taking Ella with them. She stared straight ahead, trying to figure out if this would be rescue or just a turnover to a worst man. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "Well, are you gonna let the nice lady go, or are you gonna come up against a Mercer?"

The two guys let Ella go slowly. Ella looked around, not sure if she wanted to keep going alone or trust this Mercer guy. She'd heard about the Mercer boys before, she'd seen Angel Mercer in the club where she used to strip, but surely they couldn't be related, Angel was black, this guy was white. " Looks like maybe they got ya with the pavement. I live right there. Come in and get cleaned up will ya?" this Mercer guy definitely wasn't eloquent but something about him seemed trust worthy.

As they got closer to the house she looked at him, even though his presence intimidated the hell out of her. "Thank you, for saving me from those guys. I don't think I could have held them off much longer," Ella tried to smile.

"Don't worry about it. Were you lost or something? A lady as pretty as you shouldn't be walking these streets alone, even in broad daylight," he sounded almost angry as he told her this.

"I used to live here, a long time ago. Guess I forgot what it was like," Ella tried to look into this man's eyes, figure out why he had bothered to help her.

Instead of responding he just opened the door and waited for Ella to step inside. Ella nodded to him and stepped inside the door, and saw three men and one very pissed off looking woman staring back at her. "This young lady forgot the kind of neighborhood we live in, almost got herself killed and raped by a couple little gangsters," he said gently.

Ella looked down at the scrape on her leg, served her right for wearing a skirt in this weather. "Here, let me take your coat," Angel moved forward and pulled off her coat gently.

"Thank you, Angel," Ella smiled as she saw him trying to recognize her.

"Do I know you?" Angel had a large smile stuck on his face.

"Here, I think this will help remind you," Ella smiled as she tied her button down white shirt up above her midriff and rolled her skirt up so it stopped just below her crotch. She then used her hands into hold her in two little pig tails and struck a seductive little pose, laughing at everyone's reaction.

Angel started laughing too. "My, my, my. Ella Enchantress! I never thought I'd see you looking so respectable! Damn girl, you clean up good!" Angel was grinning until the girl started yelling and curding and stormed out of the house, which lead to Angel chasing after her and the others laughing heartily.

Ella smirked and returned her clothes to the respectable display that they were when she entered. She giggled as she noticed how many shocked faces were looking back at her. "I used to live here, a long time ago. Unfortunately I was forced to drop out of school and get the best paying job I could, as a stripper at the little club that used to be down the street. It got raided and they found all us under age girls working there. Needless to say, I became a warden of the state, which just happened to let me finish of school and let me make legal money so I could go to college, which I am now doing," Ella smiled.

"Then why the hell are you back here?" the youngest boy looked at her confused.

Ella laughed. "I thought it would be good to confront my demons. Walk around the old neighborhood, you know, closure," Ella smiled as she saw the confusion cross his face.

"I can understand that. But you really shouldn't have been here alone, ya know," Ella's rescuer told her in that lecturing manner.

Ella just looked downwards at her feet, hoping that if she acted ashamed that he would stop lecturing her. "Now leave the poor girl alone. I bet Mom planned for this to happen. Sounds to me like the girl needed her faith in mankind restored. Especially the type of mankind that resides in this neighborhood. Ella, I'm Jerry, the reasonable Mercer brother," he smiled and extended his hand out to her.

Ella shook it, happy to have at least one friend in the room. She glanced over and saw the youngest still staring at her like she was still in her stripper costume. She laughed quietly again. She hadn't laughed in a while. Jerry seemed to have notice his brother's attention to the girl. "Well Jack, take the girl upstairs and help her clean up, will you?" Jerry smiled and winked at Jack.

Jack smiled slightly and stepped forward. "The bathroom is upstairs," he smiled and put out his hand, blushing when she grabbed it.

Jack led Ella upstairs to the bathroom. He gently pulled out some band aids and Polysporin for her. He smiled weakly as he watched her try to clean off her scraped leg. She pulled off her pantyhose sadly and rolled them up before shoving them in her purse. She seemed to be having trouble reaching her scrape to clean it properly. Jack smiled and put down the lid on the toilet. "Sit down on there, I'll take care of that," Jack smiled at her.

Ella giggled and sat down as Jack leaned down and cradled her leg over his right arm and carefully cleaned the wound. He blew on it gently after putting rubbing alcohol on it, which hardly stung at all, but Ella appreciated the attention. Jack gently placed a thin layer of Polysporin on the scrape and applied a band aid. "You don't wanna get a scab. Don't wanna scar up that pretty leg," Jack smiled.

"Well aren't you just Ella smiled warmly.

Suddenly a door slammed and Angel's girlfriend was screaming again. The bathroom door flew open and Angel yelled back at his girlfriend. "Look, look Sophie! Look! Jack wants her, not me. Ella is with JACK! NOT ME!" Angel looked really pissed as Sophie yelled something about latex.

Angel stormed downstairs as Jack looked back up at Ella. They both burst out laughing. Suddenly they both caught a glimmer of something in the corner of their eyes. "Hey!" they both shouted and pointed at each other at the same time.

"Stick out your tongue!" Ella ordered Jack.

"You first!" Jack ordered back.

"Fine then, on three," Ella smiled and counted to three and they both stuck out their tongues. Revealing that they both had their tongues pierced. They laughed and smiled at each other.

Jack couldn't believe how funny Ella actually was. He figured since she had also been in the foster care system she would be as troubled as him, and he'd never had to be a stripper to pay for his parent's addictions. At least that's what he assumed her money had to go to. Why else would a parent force their child to drop out of school and their 16 year old daughter strip in front of a bunch of dirty old men. To look at Ella now, she looked like a rich couples very wanted daughter. Like she had been given everything and that she didn't appreciate it, but she was completely the opposite.

When Jack and Ella returned downstairs the eldest Mercer, who still had not introduced himself, was sitting on a chair in the living room, reading a magazine. Ella went to reach for her coat when he spoke again, once again in that lecturing voice. "You're not going back out there all alone Ella. Besides, you're staying for dinner, we've made too much food, and Sophie's apparently not coming back for a few days. Anyone who can get rid of her deserves all the free meals in the world," he laughed in a scary way.

"Well I guess I don't really have anywhere to be," Ella smiled, "do you know when the bus leaves to go back into the city?"

"There won't be another bus going into the city until Monday at least, you should have looked into that before you came out here," he grumbled back.

"Monday? You have to be kidding! Where am I going to stay? It's Thursday for fuck's sake!" Ella couldn't believe it.

"Correction, it's the Thursday before Thanksgiving weekend, and there's not gonna be anyone heading in or out of here for Thanksgiving. I don't even know for sure if the buses are gonna be running for Monday. You can stay here, and my name is Bobby if you need to know for some reason." Bobby still hadn't looked up from the magazine he was reading.

"Thank you for letting me stay then, Bobby," Ella said as she sighed sadly to herself. She was only planning for a day trip, not to have to spend Thanksgiving weekend here with a few strangers and a man that used to tip her well for lap dances.

Jack smiled at her and looked upstairs. Ella smiled as Jack led her upstairs. "If you're thinking of going after him you're barking up the wrong tree, he's gay," Bobby yelled after them, still not looking up.

Jack smiled at Ella. "This is my room, you can sleep here," he grinned at her.

Ella looked at his grin and for once didn't return it. "I know I used to be a stripper, but that wasn't really my choice. I was good at it, but it was because I didn't want to face the consequences of not making the money my Dad needed. I'm not a slut, I'm not promising you any action," Ella said sadly.

Jack looked hurt. "I didn't expect any action, Ella. I just, kinda wanted someone to talk to through the night, maybe cuddle or something a little bit. It's just well you don't seem like a troubled kid at all. I really want to figure out what's going on in your head, why you've been able to forgive everything," he was staring hard into her eyes now.

"Oh Jack, I haven't, that's why I'm here. So I could forgive this neighborhood, so I could forgive my old house. I need to confront my sadness and get over it. But I still feel the pain, I've just learned how to distract myself from it," Ella smiled and gently touched Jack's hair.

Jack smiled at her touch and looked down towards the floor. "Please stay here tonight, I won't try anything, I promise. I just want someone who understands at least a little bit without thinking I'm gay," he smiled.

Ella grinned back. "Sounds good Jackie Bean," she laughed at the funny face he made at the nick name.


	2. Chapter 2

Bobby hadn't been lying when he said they had too much food. Sophie was allegedly leaving Angel for life, but everyone, including her and Angel, knew that she'd be back in the house before Ella left after the weekend. Bobby didn't seem very intimidating any more, but what Ella didn't realize was that Bobby could hear everything that was said in Jack's room from the living room thanks to the air vents. Bobby had gained respect for Ella now that he knew she wasn't going to sleep with Jack and leave him. Bobby joked that Jack was gay, but Bobby knew that Jack had been scorned by trampy girls before.

Angel was staring at Ella. "You know, you don't look anything like you used to," he said matter of factly.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ella laughed loudly.

Angel thought about it for a few minutes as he looked at her. "Well before you would change your look for each performance, it was pretty impressive. One dance you'd be a sweet little school girl, the next you'd be a Japanese girl dancing with her fan, then you'd look like…oh man I don't even know, it was like you were never the same girl up there! Now you look so grown up, and responsible. I would have never recognized you, you look like a responsible, intelligent woman. So whatever you think is better I guess," Angel laughed as he said it.

"I'll take that as a compliment then," Ella smiled and chuckled back.

They ate dinner silently, and every so often one of the boys would look at the end of the table whistfully. Jack had told Ella about his Mother, and she guessed that's why everyone was so depressed, and she could definitely understand why. Ella herself hadn't been adopted but was put in a foster home that paid for her to go to a decent high school. There she studied and worked very hard, not having many friends, and was able to get a scholarship to go to college, where she was studying to become a social worker. She still had a lot of problems making friends, she was intimidated by other girls and she definitely wasn't going to make buddies with the guys she went to school with, they had made it clear that they wanted something other then friendship from her.

She did have a few friends, not close but just people to eat with at lunch, talk about movies with, but no one knew that she used to spend her days and evenings stripping for a bunch of drooling men who were willing to shell out the cash she needed to by her Dad whatever he thought they needed. Her father had made an arrangement for her money to be given to him, including her tips. She was lucky if she was able to sneak out with a few bucks to herself each month. Ella shook her head to try and forget the memories, it was the past, she couldn't change it. Her only regret was not figuring out that her boss was crooked, if she promised him a bigger cut he would have paid her and she would have been alright.

Ella smiled as she noticed every one staring up at her. "Sorry, did I zone out?" she smiled at the four confused faces.

The guys all laughed mildly and shook their heads. The rest of dinner passed by rather quietly, as it tasted pretty good. Ella ate rather quickly, she hadn't tasted such delicious food in a long time. "Thank you for feeding me boys," Ella smiled, "it tastes amazing!"

After dinner Jack pulled Ella upstairs. He pulled out his guitar and began strumming on it without saying a word to Ella. Ella wasn't sure but she thought she saw a small tear creep from the corner of his eye, which immediately creeped Ella out a bit. Having grown up in a hyper masculine environment, seeing men cry was foreign to her, she still didn't know how to handle it. She was better at hiding her confusion now though, so luckily when Jack looked back up at her he didn't see how awkward Ella felt.

"My mother died, not long ago, a few days ago actually. Shot when she was going to get her Thanksgiving turkey. I haven't really talked about it with anyone. Haven't really wanted to talk to anyone about it," Jack looked down at his guitar again and started strumming again.

Not sure if she was supposed to speak yet, Ella just nodded. She understood now, and the tears didn't frighten her. That's why they were all brothers, this woman had adopted them all. That also explained all the awkward silences that she had witnessed. Jack was strumming more angrily now, staring intently at his guitar. "She didn't deserve it. She didn't. She didn't deserve anything less then the happiest life anyone could have. She deserved to be treated like a god," he said quietly, barely audible beneath his music.

Ella looked at the young man sadly. He looked younger now. He wasn't crying, but the odd tear escaped the creases around his eyes. He probably was hoping that there would be a leak in the ceiling so she wouldn't notice the tear drops that were stating to lightly appear on his shirt. "Did she raise all of you?" Ella asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Jack still wouldn't look at her, "all by herself she raised the four of us. We were the hopeless kids, no one wanted us. She took us in, showed us what a real home was like. She showed us how important we all were to each other. She worked her whole life to improve everyone else's lives, and for what? To be shot, shot like she never meant anything to anyone, to be treated like some stupid nobody who was out in the streets too late. She didn't deserve that. She deserved so much better, nobody appreciated her as much as they should have."

Ella nodded peacefully. "Can I see a picture of her?"

Jack stopped playing but didn't look back up right away. He was probably trying to gain his composure before he tried to speak about his mother again. He stood up suddenly and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. He handed Ella an old photograph, it was creased and showed four younger boys, each one resembling a man that was back in the house, and a beautiful elderly woman, who didn't really look that old, but had a grandmotherly glow about her. She had a broad smile on her face and looked to be laughing. "She's gorgeous Jack, beautiful inside and out from what I understand," Ella said quietly.

"Yeah she was a real saint," Jack shoved the photo back in his wallet and his wallet back into his pocket before he went and laid back on his bed, his hands covering his face.

"You can tell me anything Jack, I'll never tell another soul, I promise. It's okay if you don't want to of course, I respect wanting to keep it to yourself, but you can tell me anything, Jack," Ella walked over to him and gently touched his shoulder.

Jack pulled his hands down and nodded. "I'm kinda talked out for now, but maybe later, like tonight we can talk about it. I just don't understand how this fucking world works anymore. I used to think I had it all figured out, I used to think I was so fucking smart. But here I am, back in my old room, once again with the only woman who seems to care, but, no offense, your no mom," Jack looked up at Ella sadly.

"No one can ever replace your mother, Jack. And you should never try to replace her. She'd still want you to be out there, trying your hardest. You had a very special bond, I'm sure. She obviously loved you from the moment she met you, and she wanted you to be her son, that shows has special you truly were to her. I know this doesn't really help, Jack, but you should try and enjoy the years that you had together," Ella stopped here when she realized how phony she sounded, "the bottom line is, Jack, I do care about you, but I will never be able to match the bond that you two must have had."

Jack suddenly jumped up and hugger Ella tightly. Ella gently hugged Jack back. "Please, just stay here with me for a while. I can tell she would have loved you too, I know that she would have wanted you to stay here, to help me get through it," Jack spoke quietly into Ella's shoulder.

Jack silently began to cry, but for once he wasn't worried about hiding it. Ella pulled Jack closer, and for once, a man's tears didn't cause her to pull away.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: It was just brought to my attention that it's against the rules to answer reviews so I'm very sad to say I'm ending the policy I earlier created. However, if you do review I will seriously consider your ideas and value your constructive criticism! On that note I would like to credit certain parts of this chapter and most likely future chapters to the ideas expressed in a certain review and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter very much! Also I will try to read your stories and review them, and include my response in those reviews I guess! Thanks for your support everyone!

Ella could tell that Jack felt better by the end of the hug. This surprised Ella, since to look at Jack, you would never think of him as a feely touchy person. However, as she felt Jack loosen up in her arms, and his breathing settle down gradually, she knew that she had, in some accidental capacity, made him feel better. Maybe she would be a good social worker after all. She hadn't really been sure since starting her program, she tried hard but sometimes she just wasn't sure she could do it, but just feeling Jack ease up made her more certain of her abilities, and she was greatful to Jack for showing that Ella had helped him. "Do you feel better now Jackie bean?" Ella whispered quietly to break the silence.

Jack started laughing into Ella's shoulder, where he previously had been crying ever so peacefully. "I can't believe I just told you all that. You're really easy to open up to, you know that?"

Jack pulled away and stretched, revealing a bit of his abs to Ella. "Uh oh," Ella said suddenly.

Jack stopped and looked at her, hands still in mid air. He looked confused and scared. Ella made her body rather stiff like she was scared and waited for Jack to look at where she was staring. Sure enough Jack glanced over his shoulder to see what was going on and the moment he did Ella lunged into full attack. "The tickle monster saw your skin!" she yelled and began tickling Jack until he curled into a ball laughing.

Jack finally regained his composure. "That was completely uncalled for!" he said as he pulled down his shirt.

Ella began laughing, however it soon turned into a yawn. Jack looked at her closely. "Getting tired already?" he smiled as she nodded.

Jack walked over to a dresser and rummaged through the top drawer, retrieving a pair of boxers and a large t-shirt, which he threw to Ella playfully. "You can sleep in those, unless you'd rather be naked?" Jack smiled and started laughing as he saw a scared look fall across Ella's face.

Jack started laughing as Ella clutched the clothes to her chest and started looking for a place to change. "You can change in here, I'm gonna run downstairs for a minute anyways. Don't worry, I'll knock before I come back in. You sure are shy for a former stripper, I'm just kidding!" Jack laughed as Ella playfully smashed him on the head with a pillow.

As Jack hurried downstairs Ella changed into the over sized clothes. She carefully looked at all the little items Jack had placed around his room. There were lots of CDs, as well as different band photographs, then Ella noticed something interesting. There was a small picture, which Ella assumed was supposed to be invisible to her eyes, of a little boy and what appeared to be the little boys mother and father. Everyone appeared to be happy, although it looked like they were in front of a small shed. Ella heard Jack coming so she stepped away from the dresser and walked over to his bed, she wanted to make Jack blush.

Jack opened the door and saw Ella laying on his bed on her side looking at him. "Hey handsome, how sexy am I?" Ella giggled as she saw Jack's face go red.

Jack, still blushing just laughed and walked over to his dresser. "Close your eyes," he ordered Ella.

Ella covered her eyes and moved her face away from Jack so she wouldn't be able to peek. She heard clothes rustling and didn't think much of it when she felt Jack crawl into bed. "So I don't get to see your pyjamas then?" Ella joked with Jack.

"Ella, I sleep naked, Jack said simply.

"Not tonight you don't! Go put on some boxers or something!" Ella had just been joking before, she did not want to sleep next to a naked man all night.

"I'm just kidding! I'm wearing boxers! See?" Jack grabbed Ella's hand and put it on his leg.

Ella smiled. "Okay then, it's all good. You freaked me out there for a second, friends don't sleep together naked," Ella yawned again.

Jack grinned back and gave Ella a one armed hug before closing his eyes. "I'm getting tired too. I'll see you in the morning Ella," Jack mumbled.

"You bet big guy," Ella murmured back before falling asleep herself.

"But Mom, I don't want to move," a little boy looked up at his crying mother.

"We don't have a choice Jack, your Father doesn't have any money to pay for this house," the woman replied harshly.

"Shut your god damned mouth woman, I don't see you carrying your fat ass out there and earning any money. Though I doubt you'd make much on the corner anymore," the man chuckled gruesomely between the slurred words.

"Maybe if you'd stop drinking that booze like it was water you'd be able to keep a job you fucking old asshole!" the woman yelled back.

The man didn't seem to hesitate at what to do about this. He stood up, quite quickly for a clearly intoxicated man, and slapped the woman so hard she fell over into a wooden table. "You're nothing but a bastard! I should have listened to my mother about you!" the woman was screaming back.

The little boy quickly curled into a ball and began weeping to himself. He didn't like seeing his parents fight like this, and this was rather calm compared to the kind of fights they usually got into now. The man heard his son crying and walked over to him, staring at him cruelly. The man pulled his son's chin up so they were looking each other in the eye. "Only stupid little bitches cry son," he said harshly as he raised his hand and slapped his son across the face hard enough to leave a bright red hand print.

When the young boy began crying louder his father's hits became harder. Soon the boy was covered in large bruises and welts from head to toe. This resulted in his mother shouting at her husband again and the whole cycle repeated. "Daddy, please stop hitting Mom, please Daddy, just stop!" the young boy yelled to his father through his tears.

The father turned around and eyed his son wickedly. "What did you just say to me you spoiled, selfish little brat?" his father screamed as he lifted his son by the collar of his shirt, "What did you just say to your father you ungrateful son of a whore?"

The man pulled back his fist and began throwing it straight into his son's face as hard as he could. Just as he was about to make contact, Jack sat straight up in his bed, cold sweat surrounding him.

Jack was breathing heavily, he had no idea where that dream had just come from. Ella moved gently in her sleep, not used to having someone next to her. Jack thought for a moment, maybe Ella had just been kicking him. Yeah, that must be what had happened. There was no way that he would just come up with a dream like that. No way. Yeah, that made more sense.

Jack glanced at his alarm clock, it was almost 4:00 am. He took a deep breath and looked back down at Ella, who seemed to be thinking intently in her sleep. He smiled lightly at her and got out of bed. As he left the room he glanced back again. She looked so young and innocent, nothing like the girl that Angel had described. Jack believed people could change, but from the stories that Angel told Ella had been a really good stripper, she was making thousands of dollars a night probably. Why would she change her ways? Why would she decide to go become, of all things, a social worker? This was too much for Jack, he needed a drink.

Jack reached the fridge and began chugging orange juice from the container. He didn't really know why they had orange juice, normally there were two choices for beverage now that Mom was gone; beer or tap water. Jack smiled as he thought of what Mom would have said. "You need your vitamins boys, beer might be all well and good, but it doesn't taste very good after you just brushed your teeth."

Her voice was still so prevalent in Jack's mind that it was like she was standing behind him, like she had just taken a beer from his hand and put orange juice in it, although she would have put the orange juice in a glass first. He looked around the kitchen sadly. He missed her so much, and it seemed like nothing would change that pain. The only person who had saved him from pain like that before was her, and this pain was still so much worst.

"Orange juice, Jack? Were you feeling low on vitamin C?" an innocent voice broke the silence that sat in the Mercer household.

Jack looked back at Ella, who, at the current moment, looked so young and innocent he could instantly forgive her for anything. Although Jack wasn't what one would describe as a "big" guy his shirt was huge on her and it appeared that she had rolled the waist band of his boxers so they fit better. Jack noticed that it also made the shorts considerably shorter.

Her hair, which she had put in a lose ponytail earlier, was now hanging gently, it's dark brown colour looking almost black in the dark. From what Jack understood, her hair used to change on a regular basis, depending on who she was pretending to be in her act. He wondered if now she was going for a more natural look. Her hair was long and straight, and at that exact moment looked so soft Jack could fall asleep on it. "You get thirsty too?" Jack offered her the jug of orange juice.

"No, I just lost my heater," Ella smiled as Jack slowly realized that she meant him.

Jack took another large gulp of orange juice before putting the jug away. "Well then, I'd better go warm you up, hadn't I?" Jack smiled as he lifted up Ella and carried her back upstairs to his room. She giggled as he threw her on his bed.

Jack climbed in on his side and put his arm over Ella protectively. "Scared I'll run away?" Ella giggled as Jack nodded.

"Hey, I got a question for you. But first, how aware are you of your sleeping habits?" Jack smiled at the confused face Ella made.

"Well, I did a sleep test for some scientific study when I needed cash once. I guess I'm pretty aware, I watched the video," Ella laughed as she spoke.

"Well, do you kick or punch or anything in your sleep?" Jack asked, hoping she wouldn't ask why he was asking such a ridiculous question.

Ella laughed loudly. "No, I hardly move at all in my sleep," she smiled, but the smile slowly drained as she noticed Jack looking confused.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Sorry for the wait on this chapter, starting to feel the struggle of college work!

Jack stared hard at himself in the mirror. Why was he suddenly remembering all these things? He was over it; this shit was done. He splashed his face a few more times before leaving the bathroom. He walked into his room without thinking to see Ella in the midst of getting changed. She impulsively turned around, giving him a full view. It took both of them a moment to process what was going on. Ella began screaming as soon as she realized that she was pretty much naked, wearing just a thong and getting ready to pull on her bra. Jack covered his eyes guiltily at the sound and tried to back away as fast as he could.

Jack heard his door slam behind him and started laughing. He opened his eyes to see Bobby standing in front of him with a shocked look on his face. "Did I just see boobs?" he spoke with an eerily happy grin forming on his face.

Jack snorted as he nodded. Bobby choked back a laugh, trying to maintain his serious look. "Maybe there are some advantages to having a woman around this place," he spoke slowly.

Jack nodded and walked past Bobby downstairs. "Jack, I know that you aren't hitting that," Bobby started yelling after him.

Jack smiled at his brother. Bobby's eyes widened. "You are?"

Jack just rolled his eyes. Angel, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating some toast just laughed. "Girl might be a former stripper, but as I recall she ain't no slut," Angle laughed, "she wouldn't be hitting Jack for all the money in the world, let alone for fun."

A look of relief passed over Bobby's face. "Thank god, I thought you'd given up on finding Mr. Right."

"Shut up," Jack threw a dirty look at Bobby and punched his arm.

A cough interrupted the men's discussion. They glanced over at the stairs to see Ella, looking rather pissed, wearing an over sized sweatshirt that Bobby recognized as an old one of his. "I hope you don't mind me borrowing this sweatshirt whoever it belongs to, but I found it a bit chilly in here," Ella stated blandly and walked by Bobby and Jack, sitting next to Angel.

Angel stared at his toast as everyone sat in silence. Finally Ella broke the silence. "Angel, thank you for defending me, somewhat," she spoke silently as Angel handed her a peace offering of toast.

"Ella, we didn't mean to offend you, we're just…well, we're just guys. We're just three stupid guys with nothing better to talk about then you," Jack tried to make it sound better.

"I'm used to being talked about Jack," she stated in a rather cruel tone.

Silence followed once again until Bobby finally spoke up. "Listen, Ella, do you have any old gal pals? I mean, improve the whole bun to hot dog ratio for you since you are kind of stuck here," it was a rare occurrence for Bobby to be so nice, especially to a girl who wasn't paying him any special attention.

"Does Motel 6 count?" Ella said rather cruelly.

Bobby didn't like getting lip back. He despised it really. "Listen, if you wanna leave over something so stupid feel free, it'd be nice not having PMS kicking around here anymore," Bobby had that familiar glint of anger in his eyes.

Ella went silent. "I'm sorry I've caused you such an inconvenience. Thank you for your hospitality last night. Jack, I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted from me," Ella whispered silently and stood up, making her way toward the stairs to gather her things.

Bobby flinched. This girl was actually calling her bluff. He didn't mean what he had said. He wanted her to stay. Jack definitely did, he was glaring at Bobby right now as Ella breezed by. Bobby reached out his arm and stopped Ella. "Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'd really love it if you would stay, I don't want you to leave Ella. It's no excuse but we were just kidding around, we knew you weren't trampy like that," Bobby mumbled to her.

Ella locked her eyes with Bobby. "Normally, I wouldn't care. But I've worked so hard to shake that opinion of me. Everyone always thought I was some big slut, just because I worked so hard for my money. I realize I was a stripper, but it isn't as easy as you think. I just made the best of a bad situation, I didn't have a choice," Ella was starting to tear up.

Bobby really felt like shit now. "I'm sorry Ella, please stay, we didn't mean to hurt you, we didn't know it would bother you so much," Bobby was practically whispering now.

Ella nodded. She gracefully walked back to the table and stole a piece of bacon from Angel's plate. Jack looked at Ella sadly. Why did he let Bobby get him like that? Ella seemed better now. Angel was mumbling a story to her and she was giggling in return. Suddenly she paused and cleared her throat. "You know what, I may actually have a female friend after all, and if she's still around here then she would definitely come hang out here," Ella looked to Bobby for approval.

Upon Bobby's nodding Ella walked over to the phone and began dialing numbers. She finally seemed to get a hold of whoever she was looking for and began giggling profusely. She told the girl the situation and, as all of the guys could hear, the girl was very excited to come keep her company. Ella laughed heartily as her friend talked endlessly. Ella was smiling broadly as she gave her friend directions on how to get to the Mercer house.

Shortly following the phone call there was loud knocking at the front door, followed by a female voice shouting "Helloooooooo," in a funny voice.

This made Bobby curious so he moved in front of Ella to answer the door. As Bobby opened the door he saw a smiling face looking directly back at him. At first he could see the surprise on the young girls face, but he was surprised to see her smile never drop, she just adjusted her gaze to meeting someone new rather then an old friend. She didn't even scan the room with her eyes to look for Ella. "Hi! I'm Sarah, Ella's friend, am I at the right house?" she giggled.

Bobby nodded, unsure of how to react, he expected to intimidate the girl, and not for her to stand there smiling at him. Sarah was looking at him expectantly now, and he wasn't sure why. "Let the girl in for Christ's sake Bobby!" Angel yelled from behind Bobby.

Bobby shook his head. "Yeah, sorry about that, thought I saw something across the street," Bobby lied.

Sarah nodded. "Uh huh," she smiled as she walked by him to Ella.

The two girls had a non-stop giggle fest most of the afternoon, and the guys were getting increasingly pissed off. "Why did you tell her to invite a friend over?" Angel was getting furious at the loud laughter.

Suddenly the laughter seemed to stop as Ella and Sarah came downstairs and joined Bobby, Angel, and Jack in the living room. The girls sat down quietly and just looked around at the guys. Suddenly Angel's temper seemed to fade. "Hey, I recognize you," Angel was pointing directly at Sarah, which Sarah responded to with a broad smile.

Bobby looked closely at Sarah too. She did look familiar, but he couldn't tell where he knew her from. "Your hair looks different now, it was darker before, wasn't it?"

Angel was staring intently at Sarah.

Sarah giggled and nodded. "It's been many colours, but your probably thinking of when it was dark purple, it looked pretty much black in the club though," Sarah's smile was still very broad, not showing any shame but more pride.

Bobby suddenly realized something. "Holy shit! Kat?" Bobby couldn't believe it.

Sarah smiled. "Yup, that was me. Kat the stripper," Sarah was smiling as she remembered, "I brought in pretty descent cash too, but they shut the place down for hiring underage girls," Sarah pointed to herself and Ella.

Bobby couldn't believe it. He used to move right up to pervert's row when Kat was about to come on stage. She had a cat tattoo on her lower back, which he assumed was where her stage name came from. She, like Ella, used to always come out with a new act, wearing fun outfits and dancing to different songs. As Bobby recalled she was one of the most expensive girls to get a dance from. Which was why he never got a dance from her. Angel also looked pretty impressed. "Well what do you know, two of the finest strippers from Detroit right her in our house," Angel suddenly looked pretty happy.

When Bobby looked at Sarah he could remember her dances so easily now. Her hair did used to be darker, now it was blond with bright pink underneath. It was a little longer now too. Sarah was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but now he recognized her breasts, those were what he stared at usually, but that wasn't his favourite feature. Sarah noticed Bobby staring at her and smiled. "It's all natural still, no implants," Sarah giggled as she noticed him staring at her chest.

Bobby blushed slightly and looked down. Jack suddenly realized who Kat was. "Oh man, you were Kat? It wasn't your boobs he liked the most. He used to come home hammered and complaining that you cost too much per dance. He loves your ass. He used to go on and on about it for days, about how he loved it when you would shake it at him," Jack was laughing so hard he had to yell the words so that they could be heard.

Bobby just looked down and shook his head. Sarah was blushing now. "Awwww, do I have a fan? Does somebody love my bum bum?" Sarah was giggling.

Ella was laughing too. "Show him the special treatment you gave to VIPs," Ella shouted as the other brothers cheered her on.

Bobby was blushing but wasn't about to stop her. Sarah took this as encouragement and slowly strutted up to him, stopping and slowly turning away like she wasn't sure if she would approach him and giving him a chance to look at her ass. Then she turned around and came closer, reaching out to gently pet the top of his head before she straddled him and placed his hands on her butt. Sarah giggled as she saw Bobby's reaction. It was a mixture of fear and pleasure.

"And that," Sarah smiled as she looked over at everyone else, "is how you make the big bucks."

Sarah went to stand up but Bobby held her down. "Please don't," Bobby whispered in her ear quiet enough so the others wouldn't hear.

"You can get off him now, eh Sarah?" Ella shouted playfully.

"Well maybe I don't want to," Sarah smiled playfully and turned around so she was sitting in Bobby's lap, feeling the reason why he didn't want her to get up.

Bobby couldn't help but smile as he saw the cat on her back peeking out from in between the top of her pants and the bottom of her shirt. He always liked that tattoo. It was a gray cat with big blue eyes making sex eyes at whoever was looking at it. The cat looked like it was standing on her butt stretching. He remembered the first time he saw that tattoo. It was her first night in the club and she looked like an innocent young girl. He was shocked when she turned around and he saw this large tattoo on her back. Her smile had always entertained him. She could be pissed off at every guy in the room but she would still smile honestly to try and get whatever money she could.

Ella and Sarah were now talking about the old days when they dropped out of school to dance because they needed the money, and about how expensive it really was to be a stripper but you make a ton of cash, but neither of them would do it again, and how the really enjoyed Jenna Jameson's book. Bobby was mesmerized by how her body would rub against him as she talked and moved. This wasn't really helping his problem, but at least no one knew how hard he was from just that little move Sarah had pulled.

Bobby had hidden it well, but he had only ever been with two girls, and neither of those girls looked anything like Sarah. He didn't want anyone to know that, or that it had been quite some time since he had gotten laid. Bobby decided that he would just sit back and enjoy Sarah's graceful movement, whether she intended to cause him pleasure or not.


	5. Chapter 5

Sarah woke up with an aching headache. She couldn't remember much of the night before, but she knew know for sure that the Mercer's could party. Suddenly she heard a loud male groan behind her and her eyes widened. She rolled over and realized Bobby Mercer was staring back at her. Sarah instantly began scanning her memories from the night before, she had no idea how she got here. Surely if she had skanked herself out she would remember, right?

Bobby seemed to notice the confusion crossing Sarah's face and smiled, although it was evident he was also pretty hung over and tired. "Don't worry Sarah, you were in control of yourself last night, you're just in here because I have the comfiest bed and I was kinda worried that you would die from alcohol poisoning," Bobby began to laugh but stopped as he realized he had a headache.

Sarah nodded and closed her eyes again, it suddenly seemed too bright in Bobby's room. "Where's Ella?" she croaked and hesitated as she realized that she herself had a headache.

Bobby quietly chuckled to himself. "Ella has been staying in Jack's room the past couple nights," he smiled as he saw the shock cross Sarah's face, "no, he isn't getting anything."

Sarah nodded and buried her head beneath the covers on Bobby's bed. Bobby smiled to himself, he was used to having much more severe hangovers. He moved himself underneath the covers so he was face to face with Sarah. "Hey, I have something to tell you," he smiled at her.

"What's that Bobby, and don't say 'I love you' or I'll have to kill you," Sarah smiled back.

"Why can't I say I love you?" Bobby was confused.

"Because you don't. You hate me," Sarah said simply.

"How do I hate you?" Bobby sounded angry now.

Sarah smiled in response to the anger. She loved aggravating guys. "Because you would always just stare at me, never buy a dance, never buy me any drinks, and just last night you could have slept with me but you didn't. You think I'm ugly!" Sarah knew this would piss Bobby off.

"What? I get in shit for being a decent guy?" Bobby was getting mad, but as Sarah smiled he seemed to understand her game, "Besides Sarah, you don't like me," Bobby grinned.

"And why do you say that?" Sarah was impressed by his flirting skills.

"Everyone says so," Bobby smiled.

"Well then everyone is wrong," Sarah grinned at him.

A look of shock crossed Bobby's face then he began making sad faces and refusing to look Sarah in the eye. "Why are you making sad faces? See, you don't like me!" Sarah shot back.

In all honesty she didn't really know how she felt about Bobby, he was cute and everything, but he used to piss her off when he would just stare at her and never buy a dance. The whole reason she was stripping was because she needed the money, that was the general idea behind being a stripper in the first place, the money. Bobby was staring at Sarah, she could tell he was contemplating what to say. "I'm making sad faces because you don't like me," Bobby smiled weakly.

Sarah rolled her eyes. She hated repeating everything a million times. "Oh shut up, you know I do," Sarah was glaring at Bobby, her words greatly contradicting her appearance.

Bobby smiled and moved his head out from under the covers. Sarah was getting frustrated by his mixed signals. Sighing she pulled the covers down so her face was showing. Bobby was looking at her warmly, but not like she was used to guys who had crushes on her looking at her. She yawned dramatically. "Guess it's time to get up then," she smiled.

Just as she stood up Bobby coughed. "Hey, Sarah," he said quietly.

"What?" Sarah was getting way too confused to handle this guy anymore.

"Let's go get some coffee," Bobby smiled as Sarah nodded in response while she stretched.

Sarah grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to get changed, smiling as she pulled on a sweatshirt that she had bought from the old club one night when she was drunk. She'd never admit it to anyone, but she had loved working there. She made tons of money, could drift in and out whenever she pleased, had pretty decent rank, had a couple of friends, and she could do pretty much whatever she wanted. She had always loved the club atmosphere though, so it was no wonder that being in eternal darkness under neon lights with blasting music never bothered her. She used to love getting all dressed up and acting like an ass out on the floor. She was even allowed to drink on the job, how could it get better? The sweatshirt was black and a pullover that said "Spanky's Lounge" on the front in small print and in large on the back. Beneath that was the white body of stripper with martini glasses around her. Then it said in small writing next to her 'come in for a' then across her chest in larger writing "NICE RACK", beneath that was tiny writing stating 'keep your balls in the pocket'. Sarah loved that sweatshirt.

As Sarah left the bathroom Bobby noticed the sweatshirt and smiled. "I never thought I would take a stripper out for coffee the morning after," he laughed.

Sarah rolled her eyes and followed Bobby out to his car. Climbing in she accidentally slammed the door behind her. Bobby gave her a horrified expression before he gently touched the steering wheel to apologize. Sarah smiled weakly but felt weird in Bobby's car. She was used to driving herself places or walking, not riding in cars with boys. Bobby drove silently, trying to do little things to impress her but she was used to much worst driving, she had grown up with mostly male friends who were fanatic about their cars. Finally Bobby pulled into the coffee shop drive through. "Want anything?" he asked without looking at her.

"Triple triple please," Sarah smiled.

Bobby ordered Sarah and extra large, passing the cheap test that Sarah had set up. (A/N: The cheap test is when you tell a guy what you want without saying the size, if they order the smallest one then they're cheap, and it progresses from there) Bobby handed Sarah her coffee and she drank it pretty quickly, which made Bobby laugh.

Bobby pulled out onto the pier so they could look at the lake while they drank their coffee. Sarah finished hers pretty quickly so Bobby seemed to be avoiding his. Suddenly he blurted out "You owe me two dollars."

Sarah fought with him pointing out that the coffee didn't even cost two dollars, to which he responded by trying to take her watch, which was pink and had rhinestones all over it, definitely not his style. Sarah fought him trying to keep her watch on her wrist, protecting it with all her might until finally Bobby pulled Sarah in and kissed her. Sarah was surprised at how gentle his kiss was, and how compelled she was to kiss him back.

When their kiss finally broke Bobby smiled for a minute. "So that's your game is it? Try to steal a girl's watch then kiss her?" Sarah joked as Bobby nodded.

Ella awoke to Jack rubbing her back softly in his sleep. Confused, Ella just rolled out of the way. To her surprise, Jack reached for her. Jack was mumbling in his sleep again, but Ella just ignored it, maybe he was still drunk from the night before. Ella didn't really drink much so she felt fine. "Ella, come back," Jack said rather quickly.

Ella looked over at Jack and moved her hand towards his. He quickly found it and opened his eyes, looking at her kindly. "I thought you took off on me," Jack smiled.

Ella laughed and shook her head. "You know what I was thinking about Ella?" Jack paused and waited for Ella to nod, "You are nothing like a stripper. I mean, Sarah climbed onto Bobby's lap, she's loud, she drinks like it's nothing, she's just adjusted to that kind of life. You don't drink and you hardly touch anyone," Jack had thought about this pretty hard.

Ella sighed. It was true. Sarah had embraced the lifestyle of a stripper. She didn't prostitute or anything like that, but she was a heavy partier and she didn't hesitate to initiate a lap dance. Ella just shrugged her shoulders and laid herself closer to Jack again as they looked at the posters on his ceiling together. "That girl is odious," Ella laughed as she pointed at an ugly girl clad in only her underwear.

Jack smiled. "Yeah, I like big butts a lot, that's why she's there, you can rip her down if you want," Jack was grinning.

Ella tilted her head. "I have a better idea," Ella smiled as she walked across the room to a MAD magazine.

She flipped through the pages and found a picture of Johnny Knoxville pretending to be mentally challenged for his new movie. She carefully cut out his face and smiled. Carefully she taped Johnny's face over top of the girls face, they looked to be the exact same size. Jack laughed as he saw the girl's makeover. Then Ella carefully drew extra tattoos on the girl. Ella stepped back and smiled broadly at the now deformed looking girl. Jack continued laughing and carefully pulled Ella down to be face to face with him.

"It looks so much better now," Jack smiled warmly as he looked into Ella's warm blue eyes.

Ella swallowed as she looked back at Jack. She couldn't deny that she was attracted to him, but she didn't think that she could handle any relationship now. She was struggling to keep up with her school work, and she didn't have any money to cover anything other then her bills. While Ella was thinking Jack had slowly moved closer to her. She noticed this when Jack was about an inch from her face. "Jack, I" Ella began.

"Don't worry Ella, I feel the same way," Jack whispered and pulled Ella into a deep and passionate kiss.

Ella really wanted to push Jack away but she couldn't do it. He gently pulled her closer and deeper into his kiss. As they separated Ella tried to find the words, but nothing would come out. Jack just smiled at her and cuddled closer to her, closing his eyes and falling back to sleep. Ella closed her eyes, pushing a solitary tear from her right eye.

As Bobby and Sarah separated from each other's mouths they couldn't help but laugh slightly. A group of young kids had pulled up next to them and they all had their faces pressed up against the windows of the van they were in. Bobby laughed and looked to Sarah. "I guess I should consider getting my windows tinted," Bobby giggled quietly as he began blushing.

Sarah smiled to herself. She was surprisingly happy. She didn't think she would be, but she was. Bobby pulled out of his parking spot and sped away, laughing as the kids in the van were staring with great interest. Sarah giggled as Bobby tried to look macho for everyone else. She remembered seeing him in the strip club. He would come in all by himself and just sit in the back, sometimes for hours, but every time Sarah would come out to dance he would move up to pervert's row and watch intently. Sarah loved the attention that he would give her, but she quickly got pissed that she was lucky to make two dollars off of him. He was a former pro hockey player, how could he not spend a couple bucks on her? Now she understood more, Bobby had probably pissed away any money that he would have to spend on anything other then the essentials and providing for his family.

As Bobby drove around town Sarah looked around. She hadn't been out in a while and wondered what exactly the town had to offer now that Spanky's was shut down for hiring underage girls. Suddenly Sarah's eyes widened. "Bobby, do you see that?" Bobby glanced over at where Sarah was looking.

"Yeah, why?" Bobby was confused at how excited Sarah looked.

"Bobby, I know where we're going tonight," Sarah had a large smile plastered on her face, "You, me, Jack, and Ella are hitting up the Go Go."


	6. Chapter 6

Ella was laying in bed with Jack wide awake and staring at the ceiling as she heard the door to the house open followed by hurried feet running up the stairs. Before she knew it Sarah was standing in the doorway with a broad smile on her face. "Oh Ella honey, guess where we're going tonight," Sarah was smiling a creepy smile.

Ella didn't like where this was going. She recognized that smile. Sarah was up to something. "Where?" Ella asked cautiously as Jack slowly realized that two girls were in his room.

Sarah's smile went even broader. "The go-go! Can you believe it? I thought they were closed down too but I guess not! We're going to get all dressed up, get hammered, and go to the go-go!" Sarah was jumping up and down in excitement.

Ella smiled but she didn't especially want to go. She didn't need to remind everyone of her previous career, or make anyone think she was proud of it. In all honesty she was pretty ashamed of how she used to work so hard stripping. Sarah used to work really hard too, but Ella got the feeling, especially now, that Sarah had secretly enjoyed being a stripper. Ella couldn't help but smile as she watched Sarah smiling and giggling, bouncing up and down as Bobby tried to put a hold on her waist, trying to show that he cared about her. Sarah didn't even notice, she just kept bouncing and talking.

Ella smiled as she recognized the glow that Sarah showed when she was excited about something. Ella could remember how Sarah used to go crazy shopping for stripper gear. The girls at the club traditionally hated each other. After all, they were each other's competition. So Sarah was always shopping trying to find the best outfits and figuring out the best dances. It was contagious. She inspired Ella's creativity on the stage. Together the girls were the top sellers at Spanky's, and that was how they liked it.

"So, Ella, you and I are going to go shopping and get some hot outfits for tonight! We've got to show people that we are still hot and happy!" Sarah was smiling broadly, remembering her shopping trips with Ella.

Ella nodded. "I don't have any money though," she paused as the thought hit her.

Suddenly she felt Jack slip something into her hand. It was a pretty hefty amount of bills. "Jack, I can't spend your money," Ella began but Jack just plugged his ears and left the room.

Bobby, looking aggrevated at Jack opened his wallet and handed some cash over to Sarah. "Bobby! You don't have to do that!" Sarah said excitedly as she counted the wad of bills.

"Consider it back payment since I hardly gave you a cent back in the day," Bobby still didn't look very happy.

Sarah smiled at the money and put it in her wallet with a broad smile before shoving her wallet back in her purse. Bobby gently patted Sarah's butt and she shot him a dirty look quickly out of habit more then actual offense. She didn't mind if someone she kinda liked did it, but back in her stripper days she used to get huge bruises on her butt from the constant pinching. "Hey Bobby," Sarah said in a far too sweet voice.

"What Sarah?" Bobby had a look of suspicion on his face.

"Umm, do you maybe wanna drive us down to the mall so we can buy some new clothes with yours and Jack's money," Bobby made a face but then Sarah moved really close and whispered in Bobby's ear, "maybe if your lucky I'll be a lil outfit just for you," Sarah smiled as Bobby handed her his car keys.

Sarah grinned at Bobby and took the keys. "Your gonna let me drive Bobby? Your so sweet to me," Sarah smiled sweetly and left the room.

Bobby shook his head. "How does she do that?" he asked Ella.

Ella shrugged her shoulders. "You should have seen her working guys back in the club when she really wanted something. She actually likes you so there isn't even any effort behind that," Ella laughed as Bobby shook his head and left.

Ella closed the door behind him and got dressed. She didn't really understand why the mall was open but no buses were running, but she decided not to worry about it. She walked downstairs to see Bobby attempting to get the keys back from Sarah, but he still hadn't managed to ask her. "You're so nice to lend me your car Bobby, you're so good to me," Sarah smiled broadly at him, "of course if you want to drive….you can, but we might stop at a few places and I do want to get you a surprise," Sarah touched Bobby sweetly without breaking eye contact.

Bobby nodded blankly. "Yeah, I guess you can drive it. You know how to drive stick?" Bobby looked totally confused.

Sarah laughed. "You know it," she smiled and winked before she kissed Bobby gently on the cheek, "See you in a couple hours Bobby baby," Sarah waved a little goodbye and walked outside, putting on her coat as she left.

Ella followed Sarah, leaving Bobby in a daze. They climbed in the car and Sarah giggled quietly so Bobby couldn't see or hear. Ella just smiled at Sarah, she was still the same. "It's good to know I still have it," Sarah giggled as she saw Bobby peering out the front window, trying not to be seen.

Sarah moved all the mirrors and moved the seat up. She checked her hair in the rearview mirror and put on some lip gloss, then put on a pair of sunglasses because it was surprisingly bright out. "Ready to rock?" she smiled as she turned to Ella.

Ella nodded and Sarah started the car. Ella had thought Sarah was lying about driving standard, but she was actually pretty good at it, she didn't even stall it, which Ella had been waiting for. They got into the mall to see that several of their old stripper shops were still open. Sarah giggled as she went back into her old favourite store, Playful Intentions. Ella laughed as her friend went flying through the racks of clothes, just like back in the day. Ella looked around and couldn't imagine wearing any of the outfits that sat before her, although back in her stripping days they would have been too conservative for her. Sarah held up a cute super short baby pink dress. "Think Bobby would like this?" Sarah giggled.

Ella laughed in response. "So what's the deal with you two, are you together?" Ella was curious.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "He told me he liked me and kissed me today, and he did hand me all this cash, but he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend so….no," Sarah giggled and looked back at the dress.

Ella smiled at Sarah. Sarah had always had a theory about guys. She would never, ever cheat on a guy, and she would never sleep with a guy who wasn't her boyfriend, but she knew how to work a guy for his stuff without being a tramp. She used to be able to get a huge amount of tips every night without giving a single lap dance. Obviously she still had the skills judging by the amount of money Bobby gave her and the fact that he handed his car over so easily. What Ella enjoyed most about Sarah was that she wouldn't take anything away from a guy unless he did something to piss her off. Bobby would get his money back gradually, she would buy him presents or something over time, and Sarah definitely wouldn't hurt Bobby's car, she would treat it like her own little baby until it was back with Bobby. The only way that would change would be if Bobby hit Sarah or another girl or if he did something to harm somebody who didn't deserve it, then Sarah was downright evil.

Finally Sarah stepped out of the change room with a short light pink pleated skirt with white pinstripes and a silk and lace spaghetti strap top that was long and made Sarah's frame look even leaner. Sarah wasn't by any means big, but because of the size of her hips and breasts she usually had to wear clothes that made her look bigger then she was. Luckily this top had been created for a stripper with implants and the skirt flattered her hips. "What do you think?" Sarah was smoothing the skirt to see how short it was.

"It looks great Sarah," Ella paused for a moment, "but it doesn't seem very you," Ella looked around the store to figure out what she was missing.

"Aha! Here's what you need," Ella smiled as she handed Sarah a pair of 7" heel white stripper shoes.

Sarah's eyes grew wide. "I missed these girls, I had to sell all mine on eBay to pay my last month's rent," Sarah hugged the shoes.

Ella laughed as Sarah gently folded all her new items and carried them to the cash. Sarah always treated her outfits and shoes like her children, but she did attribute all of her earnings to them, so that could explain why. Sarah lovingly paid for her items and carried her bag with pride and joy as Ella tried to see a store where she could get an alright little outfit to wear. "So, speaking of Mercer boys, you and Jack sure were cuddly this morning," Sarah smiled.

Ella shook her head. "It's a similar story to yours actually, but I don't know if I want a guy in my life right now," Ella shook her head sadly.

Sarah looked at Ella with an understanding look on her face. "Ella, honey, I know that you were hurt really bad, but that was a long time ago. I don't think that little guy would pull that shit on you, and if he did, I know where he lives and I'd kick his ass," Sarah smiled warmly.

Ella smiled weakly, although she still didn't know what she wanted. Her thinking stopped as she glanced in a store window and saw the perfect outfit looking back at her. "Here we go, I found what I want," Ella smiled as she went into the story and purchased a white terry cloth skirt and a t-shirt with a low cut v-neck that was striped in different shades of pink.

Sarah smiled as she saw Ella starting to return to her old ways. When the club was shut down Ella was beside herself not knowing what to do. It ended up working out, but the government took its sweet time deciding what to do with Ella. She had only been 17 at the time, and obviously her father was unfit. Sarah shook her head remembering the time Ella's dad had come to the club drunk to yell at her for not washing the dishes in between shifts. He had to be thrown out of the club because he was yelling so loudly that he could be clearly heard over the music. Sarah shuddered at the memory.

Ella left the store happy with her purchases and together Sarah and Ella strolled the mall. Nothing had really changed so they decided to head back to the Mercer house. Sarah glanced at her watch. "Hmm, we should grab some take out and then once we're done eating then we can get ready. Man, I miss getting all whored up before a night out," Sarah laughed at the horrified look on Ella's face.

Sarah and Ella climbed back into Bobby's car and drove to Hoo Lee Garden to pick up some Chinese food to take back to the guys, Sarah calling the house on the way to make sure everybody liked Chinese food. They picked up the surprisingly massive order and headed back to the house where Angel, Jack, and Bobby were sitting anxiously at the table ready to eat.

The entire time they were eating Bobby kept commenting on how he wanted to see Sarah's outfit. "Bobby, if I let you see it before I'm wearing it then the effect will be destroyed," Sarah smirked.

After dinner Sarah and Ella took over the bathroom in order to get ready. Sarah kissed her shoes before putting them on, smiling at the look of them on her feet. Ella and Sarah skillfully applied there makeup just like in the old days, when they would share a mirror to prevent bitching from the other girls. The girls looked in the mirror and smiled, both of them still had the touch. Sarah giggled as she opened the door to see Bobby and Jack waiting right in front of the bathroom door, staring back at them. Sarah playfully moved close to Bobby, "Like what you see Bobby?" Sarah smiled as she saw a smile grow on Bobby's face.

Jack smiled nervously at Ella, who returned it with her own bashful smile. Bobby was grinning in amazement at Sarah's shoes as Jack gently reached for Ella's hand. Ella smiled as Jack touched her, although she wasn't sure why. "Alright! Gogo here we come!" Sarah giggled excitedly as Bobby picked her up and carried her down the stairs in his arms.

Bobby carefully seated Sarah in the passenger seat of his car and grinned at her. "What are you so smiley about?" Sarah giggled.

Bobby pulled out a fake rose and handed it to Sarah. She smiled as she looked at it. "Play the message on it," Bobby urged her.

Sarah hadn't really noticed that it played anything so she hit the first button that she saw, hearing only a beep sound. She looked up at Bobby's face to see him looking crushed. "You erased my message!" Bobby shrieked.

Sarah laughed. "It was an accident, what did you say?" Sarah was impressed by all of his thought.

"Nothing, I didn't say anything," Bobby sighed and got up and walked to the driver's side of the car.

Sarah giggled to herself and told Jack and Ella the story when they climbed in. They all shared a hearty laugh as Bobby pulled away, Jack and Ella still holding hands in the back seat.


	7. Chapter 7

Bobby laughed as Sarah carefully walked over some ice. In a small way he was hoping she'd fall so he could glance up her skirt, but judging by the size of her shoes she would probably die if she fell from that height. Sarah was actually pretty good in the shoes, most likely because of all of her experience dancing in them. Bobby wasn't sure why he felt such a connection with her. She was a stripper. Well, a former stripper but still. Normally a girl didn't have to do much to get permanently listed in Bobby's skank books.

As Bobby watched Sarah get past the ice and look down at her feet with a sense of accomplishment he realized that he'd never seen her as a normal girl before, she had always been something untouchable before. True, she was dancing around on a stage taking off her clothes, but she never showed everything. She used to giggle as guys would pass her $20 bills trying to get her to give them a peek but she'd just take the money and smile before she scampered off stage.

Ella was laughing as Sarah told her shoes they were good shoes for not slipping. Ella had forgotten how fun it was having friends. She had become a loner at college; she didn't realize that she actually missed having friends to go out with. Bobby moved up behind Sarah and gently hit her butt, making her jump slightly. Ella laughed, then felt a man's hand ever so gently wrap itself around her own butt. She looked over her shoulder to see Jack smiling down at her. Ella smiled weakly. Sarah, seeing how uncomfortable searched for a way to distract anyone else from seeing it. "Hey guys, lets get inside, it's freezing out here," Sarah smiled and began moving towards the door.

Sarah was checked for ID immediately, and Ella could understand why looking at her. Sarah was wearing that cute little mini skirt, which was baby pink, and her coat was also baby pink with white fur along the hood. True, she was wearing stripper shoes, but she looked like a little girl otherwise since her coat concealed her chest. Sarah shrugged and handed the bouncer her ID and continued in, Bobby was just waved through, Ella unzipped her coat slightly so her cleavage was showing slightly and she didn't get questioned and Jack slipped the guy a $20 bill. Ella looked around. She should have assumed this was a strip club by Sarah's excitement. Sighing Ella checked her coat and took a seat with Sarah and Bobby who were in one of the back corners.

Bobby was whispering something in Sarah's ear, and Ella was pretty positive that Sarah was just pretending to listen to him. Jack moved close to Ella, "Do you want a drink?" he whispered to her.

Ella nodded and mouthed the word Corona to him. Jack got up and went to get the beer for her as a waitress went to Bobby and Sarah picking up two empty bottles and handing them two new ones as Bobby flicked money onto the waitresses tray. "You've already had a drink?" Ella asked Sarah.

Sarah laughed and nodded as she drank back the second bottle. Bobby was laughing too, something that seemed rare. Jack was back with Ella's Corona as well as a beer for himself. Ella shrugged her shoulders and began drinking as she saw a girl walk on stage. Ella knew this girl; she had been a big bitch back at Spanky's. Sarah clearly recognized her too. "SKANK!" Sarah yelled then took another chug of her drink.

Ella looked over towards a bouncer. Typically someone would get thrown out for yelling rude things at the dancers, but the bouncer must have known it was true. Bobby laughed and leaned in to kiss Sarah, but she was too busy giving the stripper the stare to return it. Bobby decided that the best solution was to get more alcohol into Sarah's system so he ordered more booze. It seemed to work because Sarah kept pounding them back and soon enough she forgot all about the girl on stage.

Ella nursed her Corona, she didn't really like drinking that much. Jack seemed to notice and asked her if anything was wrong. Ella shook her head silently. Ella watched Jack carefully whenever he looked away. He definitely had an appeal to him, he was pretty cute, with the rock star hair, but he was still a guy. Jack noticed Ella checking him out so he carefully moved his hand over to touch hers. Ella was surprised at the comfort that his hand touching hers gave her. In fact, despite the extremely loud music playing Ella could hear her heart beating loudly. Jack took the warm look in Ella's eyes as a positive thing and slowly leaned in to kiss her. There lips gently met and Ella forgot why she didn't want him to kiss her briefly until, "Wow, I forgot how good Sarah was at that," Bobby said loudly to them.

Ella looked up to see Sarah carefully working the pole just like she used to back in the day. Ella shook her head but laughed as she realized it was to show the other girl up. Sarah finished her mini routine by giving the girl the finger and walking off stage and back to Bobby. Bobby was laughing and clapping as Sarah handed him the hunk of bills that she had received while dancing. Bobby loved it. "She didn't even need to take off her clothes and she made more money!" Bobby shouted to Jack and Ella, making it more obvious that Bobby was as drunk as Sarah.

Sarah giggled as a bunch of shots were sent over to Sarah, who downed them quickly with Bobby's encouragement. Ella laughed and shook her head as she looked back over at Jack, admitting to her self that she liked the guy and maybe she should follow some of Sarah's examples. Ella grabbed Jack and kissed him, laughing to herself as Jack jumped in surprise. They broke apart just in time to see the Gogo's manager heading over towards their table. Ella shuddered at the thought of what he might have to say about Sarah giving one of his girls trouble.

He came over and spoke to Sarah, but Ella couldn't hear what he was saying. Sarah was shaking her head and Bobby was looking on confused. Finally the manager, looking pretty pissed, stormed off. Sarah laughed loudly and then continued to drink. Ella decided not to push it and went back to cuddling with Jack, amazed how romantic a strip club could feel.

The night progressed with several guys approaching Sarah for lap dances and Bobby punching one of them in the face for offering Sarah $3,000 to sleep with him. Taking that as a cue to leave Jack grabbed Ella's hand and pulled her out of the club. Ella grabbed Sarah's hand and Sarah grabbed Bobby's. Sarah was still laughing her typical drunken laugh as they got outside. Bobby quickly grabbed a hold of Sarah romantically, making her smile warmly as she looked into his eyes. "No one better think they can pay for your loving," Bobby slurred at Sarah, making her giggle.

Jack was staring in amazement at them. "I've never in my life seen Bobby acting so fucking corny," Jack mumbled to Ella so Bobby wouldn't hear.

Bobby seemed to notice that people were watching him because he started to turn back to macho mode rather quickly. "Jack, let's go get some pizza, I'm fucking starving," Bobby shouted at Jack.

Jack nodded and together they walked down the street towards the nearest pizza place that was still open at 1:30 in the morning. They walked into Pizza Pizza and immediately Sarah snorted, looking back towards Ella. At first Ella didn't understand then she looked up to see Cody. Ella started laughing too. "Hello Cody," Ella managed to say while Sarah was still giggling.

The large guy behind the counter just nodded and walked to the back quickly, looking like he was about to cry. "What the hell is that all about?" Bobby asked Sarah.

Sarah wiped a tear from her eye as she got her breath back from laughing. "I went through this phase where I was determined to find a Prince Charming, and Cody there kept telling my old gal pal Ericka that he loved me and he worshipped me and such, so I went out with him, sure that he would treat me good," Sarah was still snorting slightly as she told the story so Ella decided to take over.

"Well, Cody went crazy. He would flip out if Sarah weren't with him every spare minute of the day. He wouldn't even tell her he was mad though. So one night she goes over to hang out with him and he starts acting all crazy and starts freaking out on Sarah for only wanting to hang out with him when it's convenient," Ella now broke into a fit of laughter as Sarah regained her ability to speak.

"So then I said to him, 'Of course I only want to see you when it's convenient, why would I want to see you when it's not?' and he bursts into tears and I had to dump him and then that was that," Sarah calmed herself down as Cody came back out, his eyes all read from crying.

Now Bobby tried to hold in his laughter as he ordered them a pizza. As Bobby ordered Cody started getting lippy and being rude about the toppings so Bobby leaned in and whispered something so Cody, making Cody shut up and then storm back to the kitchen. "What did you say to him?" Sarah asked Bobby.

Bobby shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing, just mentioned that I was nailing you nowadays, " Bobby said nonchalantly.

Sarah laughed loudly. "Liar," she smiled at Bobby who just shrugged his shoulders.

Jack waited until Bobby and Sarah were focusing on each other again and turned to Ella. "Alright, I can understand why Cody was so obsessed with Sarah, but why would Sarah ever be with a guy like him? He's got to be at least 400 pounds!" Jack whispered to Ella.

"Well, she's gone out with so many assholes that she just sorta figured that Cody would treat her well and wouldn't be a bastard to her. Apparently Cody was still pretty fucked in the head," Ella laughed, surprised that she was swearing so much, she hadn't sworn this much since she was working back at Spanky's.

Jack smiled and gently touched the side of Ella's face with his hand, staring deeply into her eyes. Ella got shivers from Jack paying this much attention to her, but she liked it. "You know, I've never seen eyes like yours," Jack said to Ella quietly so Bobby wouldn't hear.

Ella laughed at his corny comment. Jack was the last person she expected to hear fluff from. He looked like a cocky, rock star, asshole type who was used to shooting down girls all the time. "Your pizza's ready," a sad voice shouted at them.

Sarah was sitting nearest to the counter so she got up to go get it. "Hi Cody, life going well nowadays?" Sarah asked as she tried to hold back laughter at the face Cody was making.

Cody stared evilly at Bobby. "Yeah, I've had a couple girlfriends," Cody mumbled.

Sarah smiled and nodded. "Good, good. Glad to hear that we've both moved on," Sarah smiled and snorted lightly before she took the pizza back to the others.

Cody stormed back to the kitchen, looking about to cry yet again. "I think he needs some help, we were only going out for maybe a month," Sarah said matter of factly.

They finished their pizza and left before Cody came back out because Sarah didn't want to see him cry any more. Bobby protectively wrapped his arm around Sarah as they walked down the cold Detroit streets. Sarah was stumbling slightly, but still maintained a decent level of balance considering the shoes she was wearing. Jack decided to take a cue from Bobby and take Ella's hand. Ella hadn't thought to bring mittens so she was grateful for the little extra warmth that Jack's hand gave her.

As the foursome approached the Mercer household Bobby swore as he tried to fit his key in the door. Jack moved forward and, being less drunk, was able to unlock the door successfully. They could clearly hear that Sofi was back in action with Angel in his room so they headed back to their own rooms, Bobby of course pulling Sarah with him and Jack taking Ella back to his.

Sarah was still pretty drunk so she quickly climbed into Bobby's bed and curled up under his covers smiling. Bobby laughed and Sarah looked over at him like she didn't know he was there. "Take it off Bobby Mercer!" she called out to him.

Bobby laughed in reply then crawled into the bed with her. "Hey, that's not fair. You've seen me strip lots of times, how come I don't get a show?" Sarah mumbled, her eyes closing as she spoke.

Bobby gently touched Sarah's face and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "Maybe when you aren't so tired I'll give you a show," Bobby whispered to her.

Sarah opened her eyes and looked straight back into his. "Hey Bobby, what did you say into that flower you gave me earlier?" Sarah said sweetly.

"Nothing, I'm not going to tell you," Bobby said smiling.

Sarah instantly sprung back to life trying to get the information from Bobby. When attacking him and poking him didn't work she tried seducing him by gently sucking and nibbling on his ear lobe and rubbing herself up against him until he was rock hard. Bobby began to loosed up like he was about to tell her but he still kept it from her. With that failing Sarah attacked him again, lunging on top of him and pinning him down. "Bobby Mercer you tell me what you said into that flower right now!" she ordered him but Bobby still shook his head.

With that Sarah gave up and rolled off of him, succumbing to the alcohol and beginning to fall asleep. Bobby gently kissed Sarah as she fell asleep before he himself started to drift off.

Ella was changed into her pajamas and curled up in Jack's bed by the time he got back to his room from brushing his teeth. Jack smiled and stripped down to his boxers before climbing into bed with her. She rolled over to be eye to eye with Jack, it was time she told him the truth. "Jack, there's something I need to tell you before you kiss me again," Ella told him seriously.

Jack laughed and gently touched her face. "Okay, I'll hold off until you're finished," Jack smiled at Ella.

"I haven't been with a guy romantically in over two years. It's not because there hasn't been offers, but I've been cheated on, hit, and well..raped in my life and I just want you to know that I won't put up with anything like that. Sarah had personally promised to kick your ass if you hurt me too, just so you know. But anyways, my point is that I don't want anything really stressful or painful added to my life, so if this is going to be that way let's just stop now," Ella tried to sound like she was in control.

Jack smiled and held Ella close to him. "Ella, it's okay. I don't hit girls, I wouldn't cheat on anyone, and you don't have to sleep with me if you don't want to. You wanna know the truth? I've had some pretty rough experiences myself. Not so much with girls because I haven't really had a lot of girlfriends, but well, to tell you the honest to god truth, when I was about 5 or 6 my parent's started fighting a lot. My Dad usually started it and if I spoke up or looked at him the wrong way I'd get beat. Well, I started going to a neighbor's house whenever I knew my Dad would be home. Then, one day, my neighbor decided to show me a new game. I won't go into details but, my neighbor wasn't so great after all. Let's just say that you aren't the only one in this bed who's been raped," Jack was starting to tear up as he said it.

Ella gently hugged Jack in the bed and held him until she fell asleep. Feeling her body go limp in his arms Jack smiled as he smelled her hair. He fell asleep holding her, just like he had wanted to the past two nights.

Sarah stirred in her sleep, waking up Bobby. "It's okay Sarah, you can sleep, your safe," Bobby whispered in her ear, waking her up as well.

"Sorry, if I'm drunk I tend to move a lot in my sleep," Sarah mumbled back at him, her eyes flickering open.

Bobby gently kissed Sarah. "So, you really wanna know what I said into that damn flower?" Bobby asked Sarah, moving his face so it was extremely close to Sarah's and they were staring directly into each other's eyes.

"Yes," Sarah smiled, waking up more so.

"Well, I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend," Bobby said quietly, still staring into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah smiled. "And did you mean it?"

"Yes," Bobby smiled.

"And do you still mean it?" Sarah enjoyed teasing Bobby and pretending she was dumb.

"Yes, " Bobby's eyes were sparkling.

"Then yes," Sarah smiled back at him and he grabbed her in a warm embrace and began lustfully kissing her.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry for the wait, finals had me pretty busy and my damn boyfriend keeps demanding attention. Thank you all for your lovely reviews and please keep them coming, I love reading them! So, on with the story! Just a warning, this chapter gets pretty sexual and explicit. I hope it doesn't wreck the story but I mean, look at the characters, by now they have to be pretty horny! So if you don't want to read the sexual parts I will put before and after the section so you can skip over it. Hope everyone enjoys!

Sarah's eyes fluttered open as she felt a hand gently touching the small of her back. She had slept so well she couldn't remember where she was, although she should have known by the comfort of the bed it wasn't her own. Since the old club had been shut down she hadn't been able to afford any luxuries. She worked at a nearby call center completing orders for Comcast cable services over the internet, and although it was easy work it was hardly enough to cover the lifestyle she had grown accustomed to earlier in her career.

As soon as Sarah's eyes opened she remembered where she was though, she was staring right back into Bobby Mercer's eyes. Sarah wasn't hung over at all, just a perk to drinking over the years while at work. Bobby's masculine hand was gently massaging the small of Sarah's back where her cat tattoo was revealing itself under the sheets. Suddenly Bobby's alarm clock seemed to go off playing "Kiss me," by Six Pence None the Richer. Sarah laughed as Bobby leaped to turn it off but Sarah was able to stop him, moving up to kiss him sweetly.

This seemed to distract Bobby from his task and he quickly moved closer to Sarah and proceeded to move on top of her. Sarah smirked as Bobby moved his hands over her aggressively. Suddenly he stopped and looked her in the eye. "So, uh, what are the chances of me getting a little action today?" Bobby smirked at her.

Sarah held his stare. "Bobby, I don't want a fuck buddy," she began to lecture him but he stopped her.

"Sarah, if I just wanted to screw you then I wouldn't have asked you to be my girlfriend last night," Bobby smirked.

Sarah pretended to think for a few moments, enjoying that Bobby looked like he was in the midst of a near death experience. "Come here you big lug," Sarah smirked and pulled Bobby close to her, enjoying the hardness she felt against her thigh.

Bobby didn't hesitate to pull off Sarah's clothing piece by piece, speeding up with each item. Sarah giggled at his eagerness and gently pulled off his shirt. This was her favourite part, right before sex. Bobby continued to kiss Sarah as he pulled off his boxers and positioned himself before her. "Are you sure you want to do this? Because I won't be able to stop once I'm in there," Bobby was already breathing heavily.

Sarah nodded and moved herself down so that the tip of his penis was right about to enter her. Bobby couldn't handle it anymore and thrust himself inside her. Sarah groaned quietly, enjoying the surprisingly large mass that was suddenly inside her. Bobby continued to kiss her quietly as he continued to thrust inside her, sweating profusely. "Here honey, let me give you a little treat," Sarah whispered in his ear as she got up and let him lay down, climbing on top of him.

Sarah leaned down and kissed Bobby as she positioned herself above his penis, which was still very swollen with lust. Sarah carefully moved on top of him, grinding her hips against him as she continued to lean down and kiss him gently. She smiled as Bobby made faces, knowing he was close. Finally Bobby came and Sarah kissed him slowly as she climbed off of him and lay herself down next to him. Bobby was still breathing heavily as he turned to Sarah. "Ready for another go?" Bobby panted.

"Are you?" Sarah laughed as Bobby looked down, showing her that he was hard again.

Sarah smiled, impressed at his ability to perform and climbed back on top of him.

Jack woke up to the sound of Bobby's bed moving and shook his head. He didn't want another Sofi and Angel in this house, he didn't think he could take it. He looked over at Ella, who was sleeping soundly. Jack was tempted to kiss her, but he didn't want her to have to hear Bobby and Sarah going at it. Jack decided to just roll over and try to fall back to sleep. Jack couldn't help but smile as he watched Ella sleep. He couldn't sleep as an old familiar song came to mind watching her. He smiled to himself.

Sarah giggled as Bobby tried to instigate a play fight with her as they lay in bed. Obviously she was about to lose so she angrily pinched one of Bobby's nipples. Bobby jumped back and screamed slightly at the attack. "That's cheating!" he shouted at her.

"Because it was such a fair fight to begin with," Sarah retorted half angrily.

"No need to be lippy," Bobby grunted and got up from the bed, heading towards the bathroom.

Sarah shook her head but still smirked as she cuddled into the bed. It was so comfortable compared to her own. It wasn't long before she drifted into a peaceful sleep again. She had excelled as a stripper only because she knew it meant she could enjoy little things like this. She could sleep in on a comfortable bed in a room with windows. Of course back then it was more about getting her hair and nails done and enjoying shopping sprees, but right now this seemed so much more important. Would this thing with her and Bobby last? She didn't know, right now she didn't care, she just wanted to enjoy this moment she had in a comfy bed, sleeping late, right near a large window.

Ella awoke to hear Jack gently strumming on his guitar. She gently closed her eyes to delay having to look into those blue eyes. All night she'd dreamed about those eyes, looking at her so honestly, so willing and ready to believe anything she said. She could feel herself falling for Jack and she didn't like it one bit. She heard Sarah scream in the other room followed by giggles and couldn't help but laugh remembering Sarah drunkenly take on their former coworker. There had always been that quality about Sarah that seemed to work everyone over. She just always had to prove herself. Ella smirked as she remembered Sarah filing down the other girl's shoes so they'd fall on the stage after they had spread rumors about Ella.

Jack seemed to hear the smirk. "I'm glad your up, I was worried you'd succumbed to alcohol poisoning," Jack smiled innocently.

Ella laughed as she heard Sarah shriek again in the other room. "I think Sarah drank all of the alcohol before I had the chance," Ella smiled back at Jack.

Suddenly Sarah came running into the room and leaped onto the bed with Ella. A soaking wet Bobby wearing only a towel followed her. " Save me Ella, he's going to get me all gross and wet!" Sarah shrieked.

"Bobby, stop it, you're gonna trash my bed," Jack shouted but Bobby didn't care.

Bobby had an evil smile as he reached over the bed and grabbed Sarah, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her back to his room. "Ella save me!" Sarah was screaming through her laughter as she reached out for Ella.

Ella turned to Jack. "No way am I going in there, Bobby's wet and naked, and I'm sure Sarah will be soon," Ella had a half disgusted smile on her face.

Jack shook his head and went back to strumming his guitar. Ella stood up and walked over to the nearest mirror. She always hated how she looked the morning after. Sarah could pass out anywhere and her makeup would smudge just the right amount to look sexy and her hair would remain gorgeous, but Ella usually woke up looking like a drowned rat. Sarah always told Ella that it was just because when Ella was made up she looked a million times more gorgeous then Sarah and it was just evening the odds, but Ella didn't buy it.

Some time passed before Sarah and Bobby both emerged from his room looking dry and perfectly groomed…considering. Ella smirked as Sarah did her trademark wink indicating everything went well. Bobby was smiling a lot more then Ella ever saw him do before, but she didn't really know him that well. "Jack, we have some business to take care of," Bobby signaled to Jack who immediately followed.

Sarah laid down on Jack's bed next to Ella. "So Ella, what shall we do today?"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, so that was one heck of a wait time. I'm sorry guys! My inspiration returned to me though because this was added as a favourite a few days ago! Wahoo! Anyways, here we go!

"I wonder what they're up to out there," Sarah spoke gently as she looked out the kitchen window.

Ella looked up from the plate she was drying and smiled gently. "I'm sure they're fine. You care about Bobby, don't you?"

Sarah made a face and looked back at Ella. "Me? Care about a guy? Please, all I see is dollar signs, no chiselled muscles, no big brown eyes, no just right bad boy facial hair, no…" Sarah stopped and smiled to herself.

"I knew it!" Ella screamed and pointed at Sarah.

"You know nothing!" Sarah shouted back and went to slap Ella's pointed finger.

Ella saw it coming and grabbed Sarah's hand, pulling her to the kitchen table. " Tell me everything!" Ella giggled.

Sarah opened her mouth but suddenly another voice filled the room. "Are you kidding me? A girl is interested in Bobby Mercer? I'm sorry sweety, but are you on some sort of drugs?"

Sarah and Ella looked over to see Sophie leaning against the doorframe smiling. "He's always been sweet to me," Sarah responded defensively.

"Oh he's always nice and sweet until he gets what he wants," Sophie walked over to the table and leaned in between the two girls, "I'll tell you the truth. I can't say this in front of Angel because he gets mad, but Bobby Mercer is a dog. I've seen him trot girl after girl in here, sleep with them, and throw them out. I mean if you're after his money go for it, but I wouldn't get too emotionally involved, if you catch my drift Chica."

Sarah's jaw dropped and she started to tear up a bit, something that Ella had never seen before. Ella looked over at Sophie. "Why would you say something like that?" Ella was staring in Sophie's eyes.

"Now you I wouldn't worry about. Jackie's only ever had one girlfriend and that was in high school. I see the way he looks at you, he really, really likes you," Sophie smiled warmly.

Sarah got up and walked outside, throwing on her puffy light pink bomber jacket and pulling a cigarette out of one pocket, a lighter out of the other. As she lit her smoke she heard laughing behind her. Turning around she saw a group of guys, also smoking, who were staring directly at her. Sarah arched an eyebrow and moved slightly towards them. "What's so funny?" she smirked.

"Steve here seemed to think you were wandering around town with Bobby Mercer," the one guy sputtered before they all burst out into laughter again.

"And what if I was Bryce?" Sarah smiled slightly and looked down the street, hoping to see Bobby's car pull around.

The large, oafish man moved towards Sarah, wrapping his large arm around her and pulling her away from the group slightly. "Well, if you were smart little Sarah, you would remember that any guy you see….I kill. Remember? Remember that little guy you were dating? What was his name?" he sounded like he was teasing a child.

Sarah stopped and stared straight ahead. "Nate," she spoke solemnly.

"Oh yeah, Nate, that was his name, well, I remember he tried to talk things out with me, told me he really loved you and you really loved him. See, that was his mistake. Saying you loved him. You can only love me baby, remember? Well, he shut up pretty quick, only took a couple shots," Bryce smiled as he remembered.

"I will never love you, no matter how many people you kill," Sarah grunted and tried to shrug his arm off of her.

Bryce grabbed her and threw her against the wall of a nearby house and held her up by her throat. "Listen to you, playing hard to get. I already know you love me baby, it doesn't matter what you say. Don't you remember the nights we used to spend together?"

Sarah struggled but stared into his dark, soulless eyes. "I remember how you would come to the club where I was forced to strip underage. I remember how you would follow me home when I refused your offer to drive me. I remember how you raped me and then reminded me that if I went to the cops they wouldn't believe me because I was just a whore. I remember how you still stalk me and terrorize me to the point where I don't even care if you do kill me right now," Sarah spat at him.

He smiled again and loosened his hold on her throat. "Why would I kill you? We love each other," he smiled then pulled her so they were eye to eye, "and it would serve you well to remember that."

"And if I don't?" Sarah held her stare, knowing that it bothered him.

He smiled and leaned close to her, gently rubbing his cheek against hers, "then I'll kill everyone you care about, including the Mercer's and Ella," Bryce smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

Sarah paused momentarily, before her fight or flight instinct kicked in. Over Bryce's shoulder she saw Bobby's car coming down the street and Bryce's boys pulling their guns out. Sarah looked up and saw Bryce moving in for a kiss and responded by putting out her cigarette on Bryce's cheek. Bryce jumped back cursing and his boys ran towards them as Sarah took the opportunity to kick Bryce hard in the balls.

Sure enough Bryce's buddies were all over her, throwing her to the ground, punching, and kicking her. Sarah heard Bobby's car stop and Bobby running towards them. More punching sounds began and soon Sarah was free of the crowd of kicks and punches. Sarah took the opportunity to jump up and see that Bryce was reaching for his gun. "STOP," Sarah yelled, pausing everyone briefly.

Sarah ran to Bryce and punched him as hard as she could in the face. "I DON'T LOVE YOU AND I NEVER DID. YOU RAPED ME YOU SON OF A BITCH. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE EXTENT OF PAIN THAT YOU CAUSED ME AND I NEVER EVEN WANTED YOU IN MY LIFE. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO. YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME, YOU'RE A PILE OF SHIT ON THE SIDEWALK. I DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO AVOID YOU AND YOUR NASTY STENCH!!" Sarah had started crying as she screamed at him, then she grabbed the gun and pointed it at him.

He started laughing. "Sarah, baby, you don't have the balls. I told you that I would never kill you, just the people you love. Now, tell your little friends to go inside, you're coming with me. It's time I teach you your place baby girl," he smiled as Sarah started breathing heavily, still pointing the gun directly at his face.

"Sarah?" Bobby spoke up behind her.

"This douche bag was never my boyfriend. He's stalked me since the stripper days, and he murdered my ex Nate. He won't just kill me, he'll go after everyone else, so I'm going to kill him," Sarah smiled slightly as she saw a flash of panic cross Bryce's eyes.

Bobby moved up to Bryce, still laying in the snow. "Wait a minute, little Brycey boy…from Central? I remember you…always following the thugs around, hoping to be one of them. So this is what you do, terrorize a girl who doesn't want you?" Bobby stopped and shook his head, walking away, "You're still just a pathetic little boy, wandering the streets instead of the halls. Leave Sarah alone, you got it?" Bobby walked to Sarah and took the gun out of her hands, shoving it gently into the top of his pants.

Sarah looked at Bobby. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Bobby smirked at her. "It's okay, let's go home and we can talk about it in bed."

"Fuck you Mercer!" Bryce yelled and grabbed another gun, firing it directly at Bobby.


	10. Chapter 10

At first everyone thought that Bryce had missed. That was until a scream pierced the air from the Mercer house. Jack looked over to see Ella running towards them. "SARAH!" Ella cried loudly.

Bobby looked over and saw that Sarah was looking down at her hands, which were covered in blood. She looked up at Bobby. "I always knew he was a bad shot," Sarah spoke, but in a voice that was not hers.

Instead of the sweet voice Bobby was used to it was a gargling noise. Sarah had been shot in the chest, her baby pink coat was stained with blood, and her skin was growing paler by the second. She fell suddenly, just as Ella got there. Bobby caught her, falling to the ground himself and stroking her hair in his hands. Ella looked to Bryce, tears filling her eyes as she walked towards him.

Bryce himself was frozen in horror, as were his boys. He looked up at Ella. "Are you happy now? Now that her blood is all over her and covering the snow? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?" Ella screamed at him.

Bryce looked up at her, looking like a scared child, unable to speak. Ella took this as an opportunity to continue. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to jail, you're going to get raped just like you did to her and you're going to get passed around like the little bitch that you are. And then, the day that you get out, you're going to die. You think I don't know people? You think I can't make sure that you will never, ever bother anyone on this earth ever again? Your parents are catholic, right?" Ella paused for him to nod, "Good. Then you should know that the day you get out of jail, after you get murdered in cold blood just like you deserve, you're going straight to hell, and your parents probably won't even go to the funeral, they gave up on you a long time ago," Ella hissed angrily at him before punching him in the face as hard as she could, watching him coldly as blood and tears mixed on his face.

Jack stood back in shock as ambulance sirens started blowing in the distance. Someone had called 911 apparently. He noticed Bryce's boys start to take flight and grabbed one. "It's funny how loyalty works," Jack laughed as the guy started fidgeting.

Bobby was staring directly in Sarah's eyes. "Don't die. Don't do it. We just got started. I know, you lost all faith in men, and now I can understand that a little bit more, but I promise you, you pull through this and you can call all the shots. Leave me, love me, whatever you want, just please, live," Bobby started to cry as Sarah smiled gently.

"I finally seemed to get everything I wanted, but the shit came back," Sarah gurgled, then it seemed she was trying to laugh, but then she became more rigid in his arms.

The ambulance pulled up and EMT's were immediately around the pair, pushing Bobby away. Bobby looked at the red snow surrounding where they had just been and tried to hold back the tears that were forming. He glanced back at Bryce and he could only see red. He grabbed Bryce by the collar and stared him down. "You better pray she lives or I swear to god I will destroy you," he grunted and threw Bryce back to the ground.

Ella had a suspicion that Bobby only threw Bryce to the ground because he could hear the cops approaching. She, Jack, and Bobby all followed Sarah as she was taken into the ambulance. Her eyes weren't sparkling anymore as the ambulance doors shut; instead they were fixed on nothing in particular, like she was staring at a blank piece of paper.

Ella fell into Jack's arms sobbing. Jack tried to console her, but he was still watching Bobby, whose face had knotted up with fury and pain. "Come on, let's follow the ambulance," he spoke quietly.

Bobby climbed into his car and started it silently. Ella and Jack climbed in the backseat, Ella still sobbing quietly into Jack's chest. She looked up when she realized that the car wasn't moving after several minutes. Jack joined her, both of them silent in observation.

Bobby was staring at his rear view mirror, tears silently flowing down his cheeks. Around the rear view mirror Sarah had wrapped her necklace. Bobby reached up and gently touched the pendant sparkling in the light. Ella recognized the necklace. It was a large silver heart dangling from the chain. The heart had three large diamonds set in the side.

"Sarah bought that when some big shot was trying to marry her. He took pity on her dancing in the club and told her he was going to whisk her away, she could have anything she wanted and she'd never have to dance again. He owned this big fancy jewellery store downtown, so she went downtown the next day and bought that necklace, $690.00, paid in cash right to him. Hell, most of that was probably his own money that he had given her the night before," Ella chuckled to herself remembering.

Bobby smiled to himself. "She's a tough girl, she's gonna be fine," he spoke quietly.

In the back seat Jack and Ella nodded, which finally gave Bobby enough motivation to drive towards the hospital.

As the ambulance sped through the streets back to the hospital a young EMT performed CPR. This wasn't his first gunshot wound, but this was the first time he'd had a gunshot victim who wasn't involved in any gangs. He didn't know this girl well, but he could tell from when they went through her purse for ID. There had been an employee card for an actual job, a couple lipsticks, some smokes, receipts for groceries, and some overdue bills. Gangsters didn't carry things like that, and a gangsters girlfriend wouldn't be working or have overdue bills, let alone be buying her own groceries. This girl almost seemed like a bystander.

"We got 5 minutes, will she hold on?" the driver called back.

The EMT shook his head. "I don't know, she's lost a lot of blood and I can't tell if she has any fight left in her," he looked down at her, surprised to see she was now staring back into his eyes, "Just hold on, okay? You lost a lot of blood, and we need to check you out at the hospital before we know the extent of your injuries. You need to hold on so your friends can see you again, alright?" he tried to smile at her.

Her eyes remained fixed on his, staring deeply at him. This had happened once or twice before, the odd person tries to gauge your reaction so they have a rough idea of whether they'll pull out or not. He wasn't sure what his eyes were saying, but he knew that he was impressed she was even alive right now. She gave him a half knowing nod and then closed her eyes, her body going limp.


End file.
